Monday, April 18, 2011

Much More Than Dark Ambient: Inade

Germany’s Inade is one of the premier purveyors of Dark Ambient music, but that’s probably because there's much more going on than the usual wallowing and droning in the empty space out there or deep within. A full and carefully collected spectrum of obscure and tantalizying nuances reaches into the receptive and imaginative listener’s brain (shouldn’t we all be receptive and imaginative?) and, for me, it’s as much a space safari or an earthbound mystery revealed--an adventure--as it is a somber trek into the dark realm. Here’s the write up I did that was used to promote their 2009 release, The Incarnation of the Solar Architects, their best release since the landmark, Aldebaran.

There is a world that shadows our world, a world of mysterious design and unspoken secrets, of space that breathes and infinite echoes that never cease to cry. Mirrors that refract images into dark pools of cosmic nothingness. Inade explore these worlds on their latest masterpiece, The Incarnation of the Solar Architects, in which sound is utilized in a transformative manner, not only to focus on that which lies beyond and that which has never been seen, but to embrace the Darkness and let it wash over one’s soul. The mythology that Inade has created touches that place beyond forever, yet now, through the insistence of that which lurks in the margins, a metamorphosis has transpired, in which the cosmos of self has awakened. If one believes that God is everywhere, so is the Darkness that came before Him. A Darkness thriving with anonymous ideals (the possibilities are endless…) and devious intentions, resplendent with mystical creatures that shamble through antediluvian kingdoms constructed from polished metal, luxurious crystals, and unlimited dreams…though one would need new eyes to see them, and new ears to hear them. Inade provide the soundtrack--the frisson of unease is abundant, a churning, seething dread that veers into awe. It’s up to the individual listener to listen intently, behind shuttered eyelids…to see and experience the true labyrinthine hierarchy of black splendor that awaits.

Yeah, I really do hear all this and more.

Here’s a track from the disc, “The Engine of the Mind,” which takes you to the dark realm, sure, but it’s a dark realm that is alive!